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Tag Archives: Cynthia Fedor

Do Not Obey: The Confusing Construct of Fair Use

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le February 23, 2009 – 3:52 pm

What makes it okay for artists like Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp and Sherrie Levine to appropriate images from pop culture to produce art under the protection of fair use while Shepard Fairey cannot? What makes it okay for the media to do the same? (Side note: When Sherrie Levine appropriated Walker Evans’ photographs, she didn’t even change them. She simply re-photographed them and presented them as her own.)

Compare: Mannie Garcias photograph of Obama vs. Shepard Faireys Hope poster.

Manny Garcia/Associated Press

The recent ongoing controversy of Shepard Fairey’s Obama “Hope” poster is raising many concerns over what constitutes fair use and how the doctrine should be interpreted. For those of you not following (wake up and smell today’s culture), there is a heated debate in progress over the source image used to create the now famous poster that became the unofficial face of Obama’s 2008 electoral campaign. The Associated Press is suing the street artist over copyright infringement, claiming that the image of Obama on Fairey’s poster is based on a photograph taken by AP-contracted photographer Manny Garcia. Fairey acknowledges the source but argues that he only referenced the photograph and transformed it enough to where it now has a totally different message and meaning.

Arguably, the portion of the copyright law that describes fair use doesn’t really concretely define it – it is subject to interpretation. Marketers, advertisers, lawyers and artists have their own, and differing, opinions on this specific case. Milton Glaser, the artist recognized for his creation of the iconic “I (heart) NY” logo, states in a recent PRINT Magazine article:

The process of looking back at the past is very accepted in our business-the difference is when you take something without adding anything to the conversation. We celebrate influence in the arts, we think it’s important and essential. But imitation we have some ambivalence about, especially because it involves property rights. It probably has something to do with the nature of capitalism.

He continues, sharing his opinion as it relates to the Obama “Hope” poster debate:

For myself – this is subjective – I find the relationship between Fairey’s work and his sources discomforting. Nothing substantial has been added.

Personally, I think he’s wrong. Shepard Fairey turned an ordinary and uninspiring news photograph of Obama into an image that ignites emotions within the hearts of its viewers – for some, a symbol of hope and change.

Of course, we will all probably have different opinions and reactions to the photograph, poster and to the debate itself. The questions regarding fair use that are surfacing now have been debated in the past and will continue to arise in the future. There is no, nor will there ever be, a definite answer.

Am I wrong? Do you have an answer?

Direct Mail and The Art of War

Posté par Eric Welch le January 13, 2009 – 2:01 pm

dans Direct Mail Marketing

Inevitability. It’s a sensation that’s become all too familiar, especially in times like these. It’s inevitable that things are going to get worse before they get better, whether you’re talking about the current economic crisis, an impending hurricane or tooth decay. But sometimes things don’t get better and that’s when you’re forced to adopt, adapt, improve or otherwise transform into something more suited to a particular application or to better serve a specific need. Take direct mail for example. In her blog post “More US Postal Service News“, Suzanne Obermire had this to say regarding the general decline in postal mail volume (for a more detailed write-up on this, see Cynthia Fedor’s post Direct Mail is Far From Dead):

I do believe that direct mail will remain a viable channel for some marketers. However, I think that the trend of cutting mail volume is here to stay. Gone are the days of super-duper high volume direct mail, blanketing anyone who seems close to the target audience. DM will be used judiciously and only where it makes sense.

Let’s think about that for a moment and put it in terms of military strategy. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu counsels:

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.

And just like water, so are the economic conditions, mercurial interests and spending patterns of our target audience. As conditions change, we must vary our approach accordingly in a sensible manner. That is why targeted demographics, variable data printing and digital print-on-demand services aren’t just part of the future of direct mail, they ARE the future. And, unlike dinosaurs, we have the intelligence and technological sophistication to adapt quickly and avoid extinction. All it takes is the wisdom to know when and how to change. If you need a little help with that, we’ve got several wise guys here at QuantumDigital who would love to hear from you!

Direct Mail Postcards As Sales Support For Customer Retention

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le January 5, 2009 – 3:19 pm

dans Direct Mail Marketing

Like most of us, I get a lot of direct mail in my mailbox. Most of the time I’m not impressed or moved to action by the pieces. Some may have minimal personalization on them—like my name—but overall they’re still pretty generic. They don’t mean anything to me, except maybe a lesson on what not to do when using direct mail for customer acquisition and/or retention.

A great example of the right way to use direct mail marketing for customer retention appeared in my mailbox the other day from a small clothing shop I had recently visited. This piece stopped me in my tracks, put a smile on my face and left me planning my next trip to the store. It was a handwritten postcard from the person that was helping me in the store. Tiara (that’s her name) wrote to tell me that she’d enjoyed shopping with me, hoped I was enjoying my new coat and black shirt, was sorry about the missing button on the shirt I wanted to buy and that she couldn’t wait to see me again. Oh yeah, and ‘bring this postcard with you next time you stop by to receive 25% off your purchase.’ Excellent!

This one little postcard did everything right to make me feel those happy thoughts about spending even more money in that store. Here’s what they did right:

• A personalized postcard arrived in my mailbox just days after my shopping experience, while it was still fresh in my mind. Communicating through a ‘personal note’ is one of eight ways to build a relationship with your customer according to Lesley Spencer Pyle in her article, “Keep Your Customers From Straying.” She writes:

“Write a note. Adding the personal touch of a thank you note to show customers your appreciation for their business is priceless. For the best impact, send it immediately after the event.”

• The direct mail postcard was personalized with specific content that mattered to me. And, they didn’t use that information to immediately push more products on me; the note expressed a simple thank you. To me, that is an effective use of past purchasing behavior to compel an action.

“To really utilize personalization, we’re really talking about relevant communication. The more relevant that communication, the better the response rate,” says Mike Walther in a recent Inside Direct Mail article about personalization.

This kind of personalization on postcards and other marketing material is easier and faster now than ever with services like variable data printing.

• A promotional offer was included on the card. Having some type of offer that is valuable to your customer (free whitepaper download, gift, coupon, etc.) on your direct mail piece increases the likelihood that another action will occur. In my case, you bet I’m going to take them up on the ‘25% off your next visit’ coupon.

• The postcard was a part of an overall great customer service experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the store. Receiving the postcard extended that experience for me and made me feel that they really appreciated by business. In her article, “A Marketing Tool That’s Obvious, Overlooked and Cheap,” Pattie Simone urges businesses to:

“Hold on to current patrons through superb customer service.”

In other words, do more than the expected for your customers. Excellent customer service—before, during and after the sale—will keep customers coming back for more.

Do you have any more suggestions for customer retention? Let me know.

Santa Might Skip the Homes of These ‘Bad’ Direct Mail Marketers

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le December 22, 2008 – 1:42 pm

dans Direct Mail Marketing

Nonprofit group ForestEthics recently published their third annual list of ‘Naughty and Nice’ direct marketers. The list focuses on sustainable practices in direct mail/catalog marketing and highlights who’s doing a great job at thinking green and who’s not.

The list ranks companies based on four categories:

Where the materials came from to make the paper
If the supply chain, from forest to paper mill to printer, is FSC certified
How much post-consumer recycled material is used to produce direct mail pieces
Effort taken to reduce overall paper waste and consumption

Patagonia, Williams-Sonoma, Victoria’s Secret and Dell were among the ‘greenest’ direct mail marketers, receiving a prancing reindeer (that’s good) in every category. Companies that earned a lump of coal (that’s bad) in every category included Sears, Neiman Marcus, Eddie Bauer, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citi and American Express. You can see the complete list here.

I don’t understand why some direct marketers are still sending out 100-page catalogs and un-targeted direct mail. With great technologies now available—digital printing on demand, prospecting tools for targeting a precise audience type, eMarketing for companion marketing, etc—there’s no need to waste money or our natural resources.

Direct marketers, don’t be afraid to talk to your vendors, printing and fulfillment houses included. Work together and come up with green, targeted solutions for your advertising and marketing plans that will ultimately save you money and offer a better return on investment. Best of all, you’ll be able to ensure that you won’t be getting a lump of coal in your stocking from Santa next year!

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better…Including Marketing

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le December 15, 2008 – 1:47 pm

dans Leadership & Innovation

In a recent article titled, “Why Women Are the Superior Marketing Sex,” Mark Ritson explains why women, in his opinion, tend to be better marketers. He uses his own observations and actual physical attributes of the female vs. male brain as proof. Based on his ‘studies,’ he concludes the following:

Women’s brains are built for empathy
Women’s brains produce better market research
Women’s brains work better for brands
Women’s brains are better at brand positioning
Women’s brains are more attuned to the competition
Women don’t talk as much about themselves
Women’s brains age better

Now, I can’t agree more that all of the above points are true. However, I am also slightly offended that his explanation for women’s success in the marketing world is strictly due to issues of anatomy rather than hard work.

Clare Salmon, director of strategy and customer marketing, RSA, sums my objections up perfectly:

“…In the context of traditional prejudice, we just had to be better than our male peers if we were to get to the top of the food chain… Please don’t patronize me by telling me I had a ‘head start’ in getting there because my brain is a different shape.”

“These kinds of crass functional and gender prejudices do not help us to decide how to engender the right leadership qualities for modern marketers.”

You said it sister! This type of argument—boy vs. girl—is popping up a lot more with regards to the world’s financial woes. Some are asking, “If women were in charge, would we be in this mess?” Some major institutions think not. Those, featured in a Management Today article titled, “Let Women Tame the Macho Excess,” feel that male leaders were more likely to make riskier moves that essentially failed to pay off in the end. In fact, research by the University of Cambridge kind of supports this claim.

However, one can make the argument that it’s not leadership of a particular gender that causes trouble for some businesses; rather, it’s stupidity and greed that gets businesses into trouble. And those two traits aren’t necessarily gender specific.

What are your thoughts on this matter? I’m curious to know.